WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree sent a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) urging the agency to consider the state of Maine’s request for disaster assistance to assist Sagadahoc County in the wake of the blizzard and flooding that occurred in late January. A disaster declaration would trigger the award of federal funds to help clean up and repair damage done by the extreme winter weather earlier this year. The January storm cost Sagadahoc County almost $130,000 in cleanup, damage, and emergency measures taken during the storm.

“The state of Maine has faced an extremely difficult winter, especially this stretch in late January, and Sagadahoc County has been no exception,” said Senators Collins, King, and Congresswoman Pingree in their letter. “We encourage you to take into account the updated findings from the April assessment in considering the appeal to provide Sagadahoc County with the appropriate disaster assistance.”

In February, Maine Governor Paul LePage requested that FEMA declare a major disaster for Androscoggin, Cumberland, Sagadahoc, and York Counties as a result of a snowstorm, severe winter storm, and flooding. Though disaster assistance was approved for Cumberland, York, and Androscoggin Counties, it was not for Sagadahoc.

However, a joint FEMA-State Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) conducted in Sagadahoc County on April 13-16 concluded that Sagadahoc County is in fact eligible for Snow Assistance due to documented near-record snowfall received during the January storm. The results of the PDA found that there are sufficient damages in Sagadahoc County to request an appeal of the previous denial decision.

Six Sagadahoc communities have provided additional documentation demonstrating the municipal costs incurred from the storm, shedding further light on the measures they were forced to take in responding.

Full text of the letter is below:

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April 22, 2015

The Honorable William C. Fugate

Administrator

Federal Emergency Management Agency

500 C Street, SW

Washington, DC 20472

Dear Administrator Fugate,

We are writing to urge Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to consider Maine’s request for reconsideration of Sagadahoc County for inclusion under FEMA-DR-4208-ME. This request was for disaster assistance in response to the blizzard and flooding that occurred on January 26-28, 2015. Disaster assistance has already been approved for Cumberland, York, and Androscoggin counties.

On March 17, 2015, a denial of Governor Paul LePage’s original request for disaster assistance was communicated by FEMA. However, in the case of Sagadahoc County, only the Maine Department of Transportation was able to provide appropriate documentation to verify measures taken in response to the storm for inclusion in the original request. At this time, six communities in Sagadahoc County have now submitted additional documentation outlining the municipal costs associated with the storm. These additional statistics shed light on the difficult measures each of these communities was forced to take in order to respond to the event.

A joint FEMA-State Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) was conducted in Sagadahoc County on April 13-16. The final results of the PDA were delivered to the State on April 17, 2015. This PDA concluded that Sagadahoc County is eligible for Snow Assistance due to documented near-record snowfall received in this storm. The results of this assessment determined that sufficient damages exist to request an appeal of the previous denial decision. For additional details on this assessment, please see the attached letter from Bruce Fitzgerald, the Governor’s Authorized Representative, as well as a summary of the total damages incurred by several of the Sagadahoc County communities. The attached chart also includes a breakdown of per capita impact for all surveyed communities.

We appreciate your prompt attention to our request. The state of Maine has faced an extremely difficult winter, especially this stretch in late January, and Sagadahoc County has been no exception. We encourage you to take into account the updated findings from the April assessment in considering the appeal to provide Sagadahoc County with the appropriate disaster assistance.

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